Pullout may make life easier for Saudi regime

America's announcement that it intends to withdraw its military bases from Saudi Arabia answers Osama bin Laden's most persistent demand.

More than any other cause it was the presence of "crusader" forces in the land of Islam's holiest sites - Mecca and Medina - that turned bin Laden from Afghan jihadi into an international terrorist.

For differing reasons, the announcement also pleased Islamic traditionalists, reformers and the ruling House of Saud. "The withdrawal is a move huge in symbolism, and it will significantly reduce tension in Saudi Arabia," Hussein Shabokshi, a prominent Jeddah businessman, said.

The House of Saud has had problems justifying the military presence as domestic anger grew over US support for Israel's suppression of Palestinian uprisings.

"The US withdrawal completely pulls the rug from under the Islamists' feet," said Khaled Batarfi, editor of the daily newspaper al-Madinah.");document.write("

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It also helps the reformists. More than 100 intellectuals met Crown Prince Abdullah this year to call for elections and greater freedom of expression. They have been concerned that a US occupation of Iraq - coupled with talk of American intentions to reshape the Middle East - would make their proposed changes appear US-orchestrated.

The pullout also shows just how far one of the Middle East's oldest alliances has frayed since the attacks on September 11, 2001. The relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia has never fully recovered from the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

The US withdrawal from Saudi Arabia will not be enough to satisfy bin Laden or his followers. It may, however, make life easier for the Saudi regime.